I Am Painted Living In Flames
by JessWho
Summary: "It was with her body stiff with tension and her eyes swimming in hot tears that would not fall, that he found out that on this occasion he didn't come when she first called."


It was with her body stiff with tension and her eyes swimming in hot tears that would not fall, that he found out that on this occasion he didn't come when she first called.

She was angry, though she would not admit it. And he was sorry, the apologies sincere, even if they did slip past his lips with a practised ease that made him feel sick and hollow.

* * *

><p>He was promised a forgiveness he knew he could never earn, but would be granted anyway.<p>

Unfocused dusky blue eyes slipped straight through him as though he was nothing and he had to swallow down the bile that told him he should have been there to prevent another scar to her hearts.

He wondered if she weighed every howl becoming a last breath, every out-stretched hand falling limp against every lie and truth ever hotwired into her brain and whether her devotion to him paled into insignificance.

* * *

><p>River pulled away from his timid embrace and he let his hands fall into his empty lap, blinking away a haze of water as she turned away from him.<p>

She lifted her arm, bending it at the elbow so she could still use her hand to hold her hair out of her eyes and half turned to him as she slowly dragged the zip of her dress down and let the ragged slip of chiffon flutter to floor in a soft plume of ash and tiny twinkling shards of glass.

* * *

><p>Blindly she reached behind her for his hand and he took it without a moments hesitation, his breath coming out in a sigh of relief as her fingers wrapped tightly around his, the strength of her grip carrying him with her through endlessly shifting corridors to their room.<p>

With weary hands she lifted her ruined silk slip over her head and watched as it fell in a cascade of liquid gold from her fingertips, teardrops rushing down after it.

* * *

><p>His hand reached under her chin before he had even the chance to realise he had moved and lifted her face up to the light, her eyes were soft and full of sorrow as he thumbed away her tears and gently dapped under her eyes with the starched sleeve of his shirt.<p>

River bestowed him with the smallest of smiles, it wavered slightly and before it had a chance to crumple in on itself he kissed her.

* * *

><p>He very nearly mumbled his thanks into her mouth when she kissed him back, slowly opening up to the tender gesture, but he managed to quieten himself lest he break the fragile spell she was under.<p>

She tasted of life and death, of fire and the salt of many tears. She shook against him and pressed closer, tucking her arms in against his chest and loosening the bow tie at his throat, breaking the kiss only to push his tweed jacket off his shoulder so she could fold the slip of fabric into the breast pocket of his shirt.

* * *

><p>When she returned to his mouth her kiss was stronger than before, the last tinges of her coldness melting away under the ever present heat between them.<p>

He gasped near-breathless against the side of her mouth when she entwined her fingers into his long silky fringe and with a tug that made his scalp tingle she guided him with eyes closed to the bed.

* * *

><p>She knelt on the richly embroidered sheets as she helped press buttons through holes and the Doctor shrugged off his favourite red braces and shirt.<p>

River looked so small and young framed against the heavy wooden pillars of their Elizabethan bed that he had to touch her, his hands immediately moving to caress her cheeks reverently as he tried to toe off his boots.

Though he kept the thought to himself and even admonished himself for it, he relished having River like this, broken under his hands and still seeking comfort from them.

* * *

><p>He undressed quickly, the sound of laces roughly pulling loose against battered leather and the thud of boots and socks falling to the floor as one, the rasp of denim against skin as jeans were lost within the blink of an eye so he could reach out for another lingering kiss.<p>

Naked, he climbed up onto the bed with her and pulled the heavy green curtains closed behind them. Soft green lights shone, like the canopy of a forest, through thousands upon thousands of tiny holes made by the embroider's needle.

* * *

><p>They secreted themselves beneath the layers of covers, burrowing into the darkness and deep into each other arms.<p>

Her fingers wandered up his neck, her nails gently tracing the line of strong muscles to the back of his ear where one hand stayed, burying itself in his thick hair, thumb caressing the sweet shell of his ear, as the other carried on mapping his features.

* * *

><p>Lips whispered across the stubble of his jaw as she searched out his lips with her fingers, the tips slipping into his warm open mouth and pressing against his teeth and tongue briefly before being replaced with lips.<p>

Her wander-some fingers carried on their journey, leaving a trail of saliva up his cheek bone and along the lid of his left eye only to leave as quickly as it arrived, sliding away from his face and down his long neck and over his shoulder as she rolled his body over hers.

* * *

><p>Her tender compliancy reminded him so strongly of the second time they made love after the initial passion had died down to an ever present simmer and it had seemed like they had all the time in the universe to find all the secrets their bodies hid.<p>

He choked on the sensory over-load, shifting his mouth against hers and batting the heavy covers up so a gust of cold air could break into their hot haven, she shivered beneath him, her legs reflexively wrapping high around his waist and pulling the warmth of his body to hers.

* * *

><p>Every breath was shared, their lips never breaking contact as his hands soothed under her thighs and she raised her hips to meet him.<p>

He could smell the smoke still trapped in the curls of her hair and where his nose brushed against the skin of her cheek he could just capture the heated scent of flames under the perfumed noted of Freesia and Amberwood.

The heat of her body under and wrapped around his was overpowering. The suffocating heat they created surrounded their flesh and made their bodies slick against one another as he pressed the weight of his body against her hips and she met him thrust for thrust, and they melted and fused together.

* * *

><p>Nails dug deeply into the skin of his shoulder as she clung to him, teeth clashing against his with a moan of nipped lips splitting. Copper of blood ran into the corner of his bruised mouth and onto her waiting tongue as she unravelled beneath him not with a scream of ecstasy as she pulled him tightly against her with a scratch of nails, but a watery whimper.<p>

His hands slid up from the smooth skin of her thigh and the perfect swell of her bum, up her spin so he could cradle her close. He allowed the tainted smell and the familiar feel of her to overwhelm and drown him as the vortex flickered like flames of gold and blue behind his eye lids.

* * *

><p>Through the haze of blinding light his sore mouth nuzzled against her. He had never grown tired of kissing her beautiful mouth and he hoped he never would lose the thrill of worshipping it.<p>

He rolled them gently, his tongue sliding along the roof of her mouth, and settled them on their sides with her legs still curved hide on his waist, his hands soothing up and down the tantalizing length of her back.

* * *

><p>She sighed and the cracked skin of his lips tightening under the breath escaping from her lungs made him sigh contently in return.<p>

He held her tightly as her own grip loosened, her fingers gently soothing the crescents and shooting stars hers nails had traced into his back. River tucked her chin against his chest, the top of her head and her nest of gold and copper curls pillowing his jaw as they let sleep carry them away on its waters.


End file.
